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Now That’s a Lathe

Now That’s a Lathe

At the extreme opposite end of the spectrum from “hobby” machine tools are those used to build ships and power plants. I have no technical details about the lathe shown above, but the photograph was taken in 1957 or 1958 at the Doxford Engine Works in Pallion, England. If you like it, don’t miss the gallery over at Ships Nostalgia about English shipwrights William Doxford and Sons. It’s chockablock with absolutely gorgeous, amazing photographs of giant men building giant machines with giant tools.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan48
New in the Maker Shed: TFT Touch Shield

New in the Maker Shed: TFT Touch Shield

This big, gorgeous 2.8″ TFT touchscreen display from the Maker Shed is sure to add some flare to your next Arduino project. It’s capable of displaying 262,000 different colors with 240 x 320 pixels so pictures will be nice and sharp. The built in resistive touchscreen is capable of tracking your finger anywhere on the screen so you can use the display as an input device. An on-board microSD slot lets you load pictures and graphics with ease.

Continue Reading Michael Castor10

Scratching Analog Audio With a PC Fan

Adrià Navarro created this excellent DIY DJ turntable from a junk pile walkman and PC fan. When you rotate the fan with your fingers, the voltage is read by an Arduino, which smooths and remaps the levels and then uses PWM to control the audio casette player’s motor. For good measure, Adrià added an array of LEDs to show the speed of playback. Inspired by her, I’ll be fishing through my junk pile to see if I can give new life to any dusty old parts.

Continue Reading Matt Richardson